LAO:Lust art offline
by Corruption kibble
Summary: Saved from SAO by a goddess of another world, a number of players now embark on a new adventure in a true fantasy world. Unfortunately for them this world is one of corruption, darkness, and a whole lot of companionship. Whether its wanted or not. Rated T, rating to become M later due to the Monster girl encyclopedia.
1. Ch1 the deal

"This now ends the tutorial for sword art online," Kayaba Akihiko stated with a chuckle, much to the horrified stares of the player base below him. "good luck, pla-"

"Not so fast!" Suddenly came a booming female voice that interrupted Kayaba's dismissal. Then, much to everyone's, including Kayaba's, surprise a woman appeared in the air on the opposite side of the huge gathering plaza. She looked gorgeous, with golden blonde hair that reached her ankles, a simple grey strapless dress, and a pair of huge wings, one white and feathery like an angels, and the other black and leathery like a bats. She was also easily fifteen feet tall, not as huge as Kayaba's hooded avatar, but still large enough that it had a major effect as she floated there and gestured to the players below while smiling at Kayaba. "You who masquerades as a God and torments those you think below you, you are not worthy to consider yourself as such!"

"What? Who are you? How did you manage to customize your avatar like that when, are you some Hacker, or-" Kayaba began demanding, clearly confused by the woman before him.

She however did not let him continue as she suddenly beat her wings, sending a wave of wind over everything. "Silence impersonator! You may have created this shallow recreation of a world, but you are no god!" she declared as she swung a hand at him, sending a bolt of purple energy into his avatar, blowing it apart in a burst of polygons. She then flew elegantly across the plaza and took up a position where Kayaba had been and turned to the crowd. "Now that the pretender is gone, we may speak. Noble and young Heroes who have been imprisoned in this farce of a world, I am a Goddess of another world and I have transcended the barrier between our worlds because I require your help. My world requires your help! I offer you an escape from this place in both mind and body, to come to the world I call my home to help save it as the heroes you could be!"

The people below, players numbering now just under ten thousand, instantly began murmuring like a tide of confusion. No one knew for sure what was going on, but it was clear that many people had ideas. And then after almost a minute or murmurs from the crowd, one person spoke up, loud enough to be heard by all. "Are you meaning like that Isekai crap? You know, being brought to another world that's high fantasy, having magic powers, meeting fantasy races? Like that kind of thing?"

"Yes, that is in essence what I am speaking of!" the goddess stated, chasing many to start talking amongst themselves again.

"What would this entail, precisely?" one person called out loudly. "Is this actually helping us, or just exchanging one prison for another?"

"A good question. Alas, one whose answer may not be what you wish it to be. My world requires heroes and warriors, but travel there would be difficult to undo without the powers of an ArchMage of considerable power. Those who come to my world shall likely never return to the real one that you hail from," the goddess answered, instantly chasing the masses below to start roaring and yelling, mostly profanities. A few voices rang out louder than others with honest questions and remarks however.

"Why should we accept one prison for another?"

"What would we even get out of accepting your proposal?"

"Can we still get out of SAO if we don't accept your proposal?"

These were the best, most sensible, and loudest asked, or more accurately demanded, questions. And after a few more moments the Goddess raised a hand. "Please calm yourselves that I my respond to your honest questions, noble ones," she asked, making much of the crowd noise lower down to a murmur. "Thank you. To answer your most prominent questions, I shall explain in depth what accepting will grant you, and those who do not accept. Firstly, those under the age of fourteen will not be able to accept, and I shall make sure they are released from this prison of a fake world. Secondly, I cannot of course bring everyone of you to my world ten thousand people cannot be suddenly cared for or equipped. What I ask if for roughly a fifth of you to volunteer to come to my world and be the saviors it needs, and for each of you that volunteers, I can forcibly remove three other people from this matrix of fallacy. As for those that do volunteer, you will gain a mark allowing you to gain levels in the new world, as well as skills and abilities, and will begin with a substantial boosts to your physical prowess and skills based upon what you have in this world right now. Additionally those who accept will be able to have their forms changed to the looks or gender they wish so that they may be most comfortable in the new world."

The crowd was almost deathly silent as it took in what the Goddess had proclaimed. Over three quarters of them could escape the death game before it even had a chance to truly begin, but for that to happen upwards of two thousand other people had to sacrifice their ability to escape and accept being Isekai'd into a fantasy world with little chance of return.

"How do we know you are not just leading us on and giving us false hope for sick amusement? Do you have any way to prove what you are suggesting?" came one mans strong and deep voice from the crowd.

"You, do not believe the words of a goddess?" the goddess asked in surprise.

"You could only be claiming to be a goddess and could be a simple hacker toying with us for all we know. We cannot believe what you claim without some form of proof to your claims!" The same man called out, a substantial number of people gathering around him and vocally agreeing.

The goddess looked down at the big dark skinned man in shock, before realizing that he did have some logic to his argument. "Very well, I shall use some of my power to do this!" She declared as she snapped her finger and panes with a message appeared above all of the players who were younger than Fourteen. A pane saying log out unlocked. "All those too young to be of use to my world can now log out and return to their families! If they so desire."

Within seconds a sizable number of the kids with the notices above them began touching their menus and disappearing in brilliant flashes. Which of course led to some people yelling and swearing.

"If you can let them log out, why not log us all out damn you!?"

"Charity is for those who deserve it, and those who could not understand their situation as many of those children could not. And I still need noble and strong souls to help save my world," the Goddess claimed calmly.

"What happens if enough people do not, volunteer to agree with your request?" One person, a young man with reddish brown hair and slight stubble asked, his voice traveling surprisingly far and telling of skills in talking over others or garnering attention to himself.

"Sadly, if enough do not agree, then others will be left behind in this world," The goddess said grimly, her expression crestfallen, while her tone was oddly neutral.

"how do we know when enough people have agreed to your mad deal then?" a girl called out angrily.

"yeah, and what about our families that we would leave behind?" called another who sounded on the verge of crying.

"you may write letters once to your loved ones on the first night of being in my world, and I shall have them sent to them. This meeting of ours right now is also being revealed to your lands, and if you agree your bodies would come with your minds, so your choice would be obvious to your families. As for how you will know if enough have volunteered to free the rest of you-," the goddess paused as she snapped a finger, causing a crystal goblet to appear floating beside her, as large as a four story building. "this goblet will give you a visual aid. For each person that agree, a orb of light shall appear within it. And when it is full, enough of you will have agreed to come to my world to allow the rest of you to return to your normal, mundane lives."

"How, how do we agree? If we choose to I mean!" a young sounding man from the crown asked, his dark hair a common feature of those below.

"It is simply a matter of raising your open hand with the back of it facing toward the sky for five seconds. Do so, and you shall accept my offer and be marked as such," the Goddess explained before turning her head slightly and mouthing something without a voice, much to many peoples confusion. She then turned back and looked down at the masses and smiled at them in a way that was oddly strange. "Now then, who shall answer the call to be heroes and noble ones in my world of fantasy, magic, and . . . . . camaraderie?"

Almost instantly a small number of hands went up, then a few more followed. Glowing balls appeared in the goblet in small clumps, very quickly filling the goblet halfway, and then slowly filling more and more as others below raised their hands to let others escape. It kept filling slowly for a good few minutes until it almost was filled and stopped. No one moved nor said anything, and then suddenly without anyone raising their hands, more orbs Appeared and filled the goblet to the brim, causing it to crack, explode, and disappearing a flash of light and mist.

"Excellent! Most of you are now free to go!" the Goddess declared as she clapped her hands, making a flash of light that blinded everyone. And when they could see again, there was barely of fifth of the people that there were in the plaza, the rest gone without a trace. "My deal was offered to those in the real world as well, so those that you see around you, and a total of seventy one people from outside, are those who shall become heroes in my world! The spell to bring you all shall begin in a few moments, so you have some time to see those you shall fight beside. Good luck, heroes!"

And then the Goddess disappeared without a trace.

For a few seconds no one moved or said anything, but after a time people began talking and forming groups around them now that they could be partly sure that Kayaba would not reappear.

"So, you agreed too, Kirito?" A red haired man who had called out at least once, asked to the black haired boy standing just a few feet away from him.

Kirito turned to the red head the had been tutoring barely half an hour before and nodded. "Yeah. Why did you, Klein?"

"Well you know, I can't let others who have families just not be able to go back to them," Klein said, his voice low and grim, yet still filled with strength of virtue. It was odd. He looked both sad, but also proud of what he had done. "What about you?"

"Ah, well. I guess it was just, easier, " Kirito admitted as he glanced around, noting a couple people he thought he recognized as other Beta testers.

"I don't think choosing to leave behind your friends and family should be easier," Klein said in a complicated tone before sighing and shaking his head. "I'm going to see if any of my friends who were going to be on agreed. You okay here on your own?"

"Who was the one struggling to kill a boar just minutes ago?" Kirito replied with a snarky grin.

"Yeah okay, fine. You should see if anyone you know stayed behind as well. I'll talk to you later!" Klein called as he ran off into the crowd, disappearing in bare seconds.

Kirito stood there and looked around impassionedly, noting a couple other Beta testers around. He didn't know them personally, he just knew of them, and about the only other Beta he knew personally was the information broker Argo. Being a solo player had its advantages as he only had to care for himself outside of raids.

"Hopefully this isn't to different," he muttered as he noticed a glowing circle appearing on the ground below him, and symbols forming on the walls. He then noticed everyone had a circle forming under them. Then the circles started glowing brighter, making him smile. "Alright, let's see how this goes then!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What have you done!?" demanded the goddess known only as the chief Diety to the goddess that had just been in SAO as she returned to her abode. In the places between the mortal and immortal realms.

"Oh greetings to you chief, and what can I do for your illustrious presence?"

"Do not play coy with me Tilthiria, you proclaimed you would not pick sides in this conflict, so why are you getting in the way!?" the Chief Diety demanded to know, their power enough to shake the reality of the place they both stood.

Tilthiria, the goddess of twilight and balance however, simply chuckled to herself, as if about to reveal a cruel joke. "You created the world, the humans, the monsters, the Overlord, and all other gods, yet you do not know what I am doing? How sad, but if you need me to spell it out for you, I will do so! I felt the souls of human stuck between the boundary of life an death, walking the line without knowledge of it, forced to by the machinations of a human who thought himself a God. At the same time, those who live in the area of the Mathrynian Basin, who worship myself as one of their prime deities, were asking for an answer to their prayers, for some way to not take part in the grand war going on, to not have to choose between your order, or the Overlords monsters. So I found an answer to both problems by saving them from the deaths they were stuck to, by bringing them to this world as potential heroes, warriors, Smith's, and whatever else they can be to help protect those who cannot protect themselves!"

"you have brought over those who do not understand our world into a conflict no their own and have given them gifts that may endanger the balance of this world!" The Chief Diety declared angrily.

"If it truly would endanger the worlds balance, I would not have been able to do it!" Tilthiria declared smugly. "And the gifts I gave them are simply a simple boon that they might have some resistance to the overlords influence, and the Orders."

"You dare even insinuate that the Order be even close to the Overlord!?"

"No, I'm just insinuating that you have not had control over them for generations, and that their more fanatical would kill children if they so much as looked at a Mamano without fear or disgust!" Tilthiria retorted almost violently before composing herself. "All I have given them was the ability to somewhat choose their own path, and to improve themselves in a way they would be familiar with."

"And what if they would fall and turn into more of the overlords monsters? They would become even more powerful!"

"No, they would not. While their bodies may change due to the effects of our world, and other effects, their minds may as well, but still have greater resistance. As long as they consider themselves, themselves, their power will be, however as soon as their sense of self breaks, be it by Mamano corruption or The Orders work, my gift will leave them. Unlike you, I do not do things in half measures and I make sure I have back up plans!"

"You, dare!?" the Chief diety fumed.

"Yes, I do, because there is so much proof to the contrary. Now if you would be so kind as to leave, I must conserve what energy I have left to do as I promised those who shall be, in mere moments, coming to our land."

" . . . . . . This will not go as you hope, whatever your plan is. They will fall to the Overlords corruption, and the balance will fall apart because of you!"

"Oh, just like how your last chosen hero fell to the Overlords charm as well hmm?"Tilthiria toyed. " if they fall, then it is simply a case of them being weak. I brought over enough that a few hundred falling to either side of your damnable conflict will not change anything. Please leave."

"You will regret this, mark my words!" the Chief Deity said as she disappeared.

Tilthiria let out a sigh of relief as she began channeling energy and smiled. "Now then, welcome to this world of chaos, corruption and lust, my new army of would be heroes!"

Xxxxxxxxx

**So, this idea has been in my head and I have no idea if it's good or not, so instead of wondering aimlessly about it I figured that putting it up for people to see would be the best bet!**

**Now, this is a Monster girl encyclopedia and sword art crossover, so things would definitely not stay at its current rating of T as things would get very lemony/rapey depending on the situation and characters, so if this is something people would like that would be a major thing.**

**So yeah, tell me what you think of this and if you think it should continue at some point!**


	2. ch2 first days

As the light from the spell dissipated a throng of people found themselves standing in a courtyard of grass surrounded on three sides by wooden palisade walls, and a large almost church like building made of stone and wood. The palisades looked recently cut, and a small podium stood in front of the doors to the church like building with a man and woman standing before them.

The woman was dissimilar from a catholic nun, with her habit being of the same color but covered in off gray markings across its entirety. It was also cut differently, showing an ample amount of leg from the slits in the side and the fact that it only reached her knees and had no sleeves.

The man, in comparison, looked the perfect image of an adventurer from any classic fantasy game, only darker. He was garbed in dark brown pants and an off white shirt, both of which were mostly covered by pieces of lighter brown leather armour and pieces or plate and scale. His hair was short and grey, and even from a distance a large scar was visible over his face down its entire left side. On his right arm a small buckler was strapped, and on his belt was a sheathe for a short blade of some form that had a broken handle.

"Greetings valiant ones chosen by the goddess of balance and twilight!" He spoke up, his voice carrying without the need to yell or scream, silencing those few who had started speaking as soon as they could see. "I realize that you are likely confused, tired, or simply awaiting to hear what this fate you have chosen to be a part of shall be, and so my associate and I are here to explain all to you, so that unknown is not your enemy."

"To best do this however, we believed it would be best for you to be sitting, and be comfortable," the woman said with a soft smile as she stepped to the side and turned to the side, gesturing to the doorway behind her. "To that end, a feast has been prepared for you all, so please, come inside and make yourselves comfortable and we shall begin introductions shortly."

With her words said, the woman turned and walked to the doors, opened them, and disappeared within. The older man in comparison opted to simply step to the side of the door and lean on the wall, as if looking over the masses of people and judging each of them.

It took a few seconds of waiting till the first people of the group began heading toward the door and into the church, but once they did it seemed to convince most others and the tattered masses began funneling toward the door.

The churches inside seemed to be primarily used for mass, and had been converted into a hall with dozens of long tables all over which were covered in food. The walls were simple and bare wood with large beams holding up the vaulted ceiling. The only thing of particular note in the church was a granite statue of the very goddess that had broken into SAO and given them the out. Her statue seemed to be very well detailed and held a scale in each hand, one which had a sun and moon perfectly balanced, while the other scale appeared broken.

Once the masses of people were inside and seated, enjoying the food as much as they could, the rough looking man stepped up to the front of the room beneath the statue of the goddess and cleared his throat. "Now then, with all of you here and comfortable we can begin the introduction and explanations as you all should be able to hear me without the need to raise my voice. I am commander Lenth Abydus, the highest ranked guard of the Territories of the Twilight valley. I am responsible for the well being and security of our nation, whether it be from vicious Mamano, or equally fanatical humans."

"And I am priestess Amily Abydus, I am responsible for our peoples faith, as well as our security from the more mental ailments that can plague people, as well as discerning if any Mamano are a danger, or not." The woman introduced herself with a soft smile that some few people recognized as being that of someone far more powerful than they were showing themselves to be.

"First of all, we would like to thank you all for sacrificing your old lives so that you might come to this land for new ones. We are not fully aware of what sacrifices you have made, only that you gave up your other lives, so we thank you deeply.," Lenth said strongly, before his face turned grim. "We also must apologize as well however. Because just as we do not know your past, we have been led to believe, by the actions of all gods from the past to present, that you likely were only told the bare minimum about these lands of ours, or about our world and the situation it finds itself in."

"To that end, I shall explain the facets of our world that, through a vision, the goddess of balance has shown me shall be surprising, or worrisome to you," Amily spoke up as she stepped up beside Lenth, making him step to the side with a respectful nod. "To begin, this world has many gods, major and minor, but the most prominent of these gods are the Chief Deity, and the Overlord, who you might consider a foil to the Chief Deity. The overlord is the ruler of all monsters, and in the past this meant they were considered an enemy to humanity, and time and time again humanity faught against the monsters of the world, often creating heroes to do battle and protect human lives. This changed when, almost five hundred years ago, the Overlord was usurped by one of the few humanlike monsters that had existed in the far past. A succubus."

As one the entire hall erupted in murmurs and low hushed comments reigned for many moments until Amily clapped her hands together. "May I continue?" she asked, causing the noise to subside, most people eager to see where she was going with the history lesson. "Thank you. As I was saying, the overlord was usurped by a Succubus and as they took over their position, succubus energy spread across the world and into all monsters. Monsters, that used to care only about feeding primal urges to hunt and kill changed, becoming humanoid women that live only to claim a husband, or turn women into more or their own kin. That is what we call Mamano."

"Seriously, is this some bad eroge?" one person in the room said with a hearty chuckle.

"I do not know what that is, however a Mamano should never be thought ill of," Amily said as she took a step forward, and was suddenly in the middle of the hall, holding the man who spoke in the air by his throat. What was even more surprising was that a thick green reptilian tail came out from above her butt, and that her hands ha is and feet looked like reptilian claws while her head had a pair of long horns coming out of her forehead. She then threw the man across the hall into a pile of hay that sat in the corner, its purpose in being there suddenly very obvious. "After all, many of us Mamano are exponentially stronger than humans could ever be!"

"Before you all start screaming," Lenth spoke up, quickly garnering attention to himself. "because Mamano have humanlike intellect some can be reasoned with, and are even good people who are not going to try to corrupt someone's life or limbs, or try to claim them as their own. Amily is one such Mamano, a dragon whose intelligence was vastly improved due to the blessings of our goddess."

"That is not to say you should be used to Mamano being as cordial and honest as I am," Amily said with a smile as she walked back to the back of the hall, hips swaying more prominently due to her tail, or perhaps due to releasing her hidden traits. "Mamano come in all forms and shapes, so always remember that Mamano will likely be after your body in some way or another, even if you are a woman!"

"You mentioned corrupting, what's that about?" " yeah, and what do you mean they'd be after our bodies even if were women?" some people called out in response, now more than ready to listen intently.

"A mamano's dark energy can corrupt a person's mind and body. In women it can turn them into a form of Mamano, and in men it can turn them into an Incubus," Amily spoke up as she sat down on the base of the statue and crossed her long scaled and clawed legs. "However the goddess has informed me that she has given unto you all a blessing of utmost power! All of you now have a mark upon your left hands that shall allow you access to the blessing. I was told that most of it would be unintelligible to myself, but that it would at the very least allow you all to resist the corruptive influences of dark energy upon your bodies and minds separately."

"Ah, but please do not go trying to fiddle with them right now!" Lenth called out, stopping a substantial portion of the group from poking at the tattoo of a scale that everyone found to be on the back of their left hand.

"Why? You have basically explained that were in a wannabe dark rape fantasy, right?" one person called out, sounding both upset, and confused all at once.

"Yeah, what else do you need to explain?" another person called out curiously.

Both Lenth and Amily looked to each other and nodded. "The other pieces of information we believe you will need is how I will ask you all to operate," Lenth stated simply.

"The other primary thing you shall need to know is some of the geography of our world, and which other nations and organizations are dangerous or not be trusted. There is also the matter of explaining how magic works so that those of you with an affinity for it may learn, as well as how magically enhanced skills function and operate," Amily added.

"Then why not tell us geography and the nations of this world while we eat. We will need information if we are to survive this, prison," one tall and muscular man with sharp scholarly features and steel blonde hair said as he stood up for a moment to have his voice heard.

"That was the plan of course, though I would hope do not think too horridly upon these circumstances as you all agreed to them," Amily said with a sly grin before she went on and began speaking of the world, the nations, and the multitude of organizations within.

These explanations took the rest of the day, revealing that it had been mid afternoon when the masses of people had been summoned, and once done hundreds of tents were brought out for the men to camp in the large courtyard, while the lesser number of women, of which there was still a high number, slept in the church itself.

The next morning was spent listening to how they would be operating, which was not dissimilar from mercenaries or adventurers in classic fantasy roleplaying games. Each city in the Twilight valley, which turned out to be the countries name, not the lands, had halls in it that quest's from locals and businesses would be posted. Other adventurers could post them as well, and it was made very clear that, once Amily and Lenth had given all the information they had and given everyone some basic pointers, equipment and training, that it would be up to everyone to decide their own paths. This was well received by most people, as it meant they would not be tied down like an army, but also came with it's own problems that would have to be overcome in due time.

Luckily they still had an afternoon of training to find their preferred weapons and starting equipment. And unluckily, it meant a large amount of people in one area.

* * *

"Whoa!" Klein yelped as he fell backwards onto the grass, his training sword landing beside him a second later. "Damn, you have past experience with a sword , huh kirito?"

"Yeah, I've done Kendo in the past," Kirito explained as he stepped forward and offered a hand to Klein.

"Thanks, it really shows," Klein said as he took Kirito's hand and got pulled up to his feet and smiled. "I mean, in SAO it felt like there was a little bit of help somehow. Now I feel like I barely know how to walk!"

"That's not a bad comparison. SAO had a system to help players get acclimated to the motions, as well as automating some of them because it was a game that was supposed to be enjoyable. This is, real life now I guess. So it has no system to help us," Kirito said as he glanced around at the innumerable groups of people testing out different weapons. Some seemed to be acting like it was a joke or game, whereas other groups were so serious it was disturbing. Most groups were like him and Klein though, trying hard, but not being overly serious because it was still training and there were seconds chances and options to try different things and find what they were comfortable with.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. It still feels kind of surreal, you know? Being in a fantasy world with different rules, learning how to fight for real." Klein agreed after a few seconds as he picked up his training blade and gave it a few swings.

"Yeah, this is, pretty odd," Kirito admitted before sighing. "Are you sure you don't want to try a different weapon?"

"Well, I should, but what could be better than this?" Klein asked a he held up the very large two handed training sword in his hands, before almost falling over from overextending it.

"How about something you can actually hold for starters," Kirito said as he looked at the longsword in his hand before tossing it to Klein. "Here, try using this Instead."

"Ah," Klein yelped a bit as he dropped his sword and almost failed to catch Kirito's. "Uh, this is just a regular longsword, right?"

"Yeah, it should be a better weight for you."

"Well I mean, it's not very fantasy. I mean, huge swords, strange designs, those scream fantasy right?" Klein asked.

"If you can't lift it then what is the point though? Yes, it seems like we're stronger than we were before, but you should still learn on something simple. Simplicity is what true skill is built off of," Kirito explained, quoting words his grandfather had once told him years ago.

"I guess. I just wish they had a Katana at the very least, always wanted to have one," Klein griped as he fixed his grip in the training sword and took a few swings before holding it up, finding it not too heavy. "What will you use though?"

"This," Kirito said as he picked a shorter blade off the grass that looked like it was based off of a Chinese Dao, or perhaps a European falchion.

"Uh, that's not a training blade, is it?" Klein asked as he noted that the blade Kirito held was metal, while the training blades were made of carved hardwood, and leather.

"No. When we were grabbing training weapons I found it at the bottom of a barrel and asked. That guy, length? Whatever his name was, said it must have been misplaced, so I asked if I could have it if it suited me. So I proved it did. It's a bit heavier than a Bokken, but I like the weight," Kirito explained as he swung the blade about, showing his comfort with its shape and weight.

"Okay, but won't that wreck this thing?" Klein asked as he held up the wooden training sword.

"Only if I was to attack. I already know the basics from kendo, so you attack me. I'll block your attacks, and give pointers on your movements," Kirito said as he took up a kendo pose, then shifted his footing and loosened one hand off the blades handle a bit When he found it too small for both hands to fully grip. "When you're ready."

"Then here I come!" Klein stated as he rushed forward swinging his sword from straight over his head.

"Don't overextend yourself," Kirito said as he smacked the training sword aside, leaving Klein open for him to simply kick him in the chest and push him backwards. "Keep your feet spread apart to keep your body balanced," he then added as Klein tried to attack again, only for Kirito to move to side and kick Kleins leg out from under him, almost causing him to do the splits as he fell.

"Ah, seriously, why is this so hard?" Klein groaned as he stood up and brushed off his pants. "I thought using a sword was supposed to be simple!"

"Any game with a sword in it assumes the character already has basic knowledge of how to use it and to move around while doing so. Footwork is one of the most important things of swordplay."

"So it seems," Klein said as he rolled his shoulders. "Did you leave anyone behind?"

"what?" Kirito asked in surprise.

"Did you have any family back in Japan," Klein said before smirking. "I have no siblings, and all my online friends came here too. The only one I left behind was my grandma, but she, well her memory isn't the best."

"…..My aunt and my cousin, " Kirito admitted with a sigh. "My parents died when I was young, so my aunt and her family raised me as theirs. I only found out a year or so ago. I don't think my sis, my cousin, knows though."

"You don't think she volunteered to come here?" Klein asked. " I mean, we look like our SAO avatars, or some of us do, so would you even know if she did?"

"I would, but she couldn't be here anyway. That goddess mentioned that anyone younger than 14 wouldn't be here, so she's too young," Kirito said before shaking his head. "Its fine. I didn't feel like I fit in after I found out she was my cousin anyway."

"well that's, I suppose there are people like that. Just seems like a waste. Whatever," klein said as he raised his training blade again. "Alright, let's go, I'll learn this by the days end even if it kills me to-"

Klein was interrupted as the sound of an explosion, and a black cloud of smoke, burst way from one corner of the courtyard, causing a number of shouts of confusion. As the smoke cleared however some became more confused, while others became afraid from what stood on the grass.

The creatures body looked vaguely humanoid with a thin lithe female body, but the association to a human stopped there. Its legs from the knees down were dark black and avian with claws nearly the size of a man fists, while her arms were instead sizable wings that were colored a mix of blue, green, and teal. Her hair was teal and blonde, tied up into a high ponytail, and the female creature was clothed in only an extremely low cut miniskirt and two pieces of cloth that seemed to curve around from her back to cup her nearly breasts, the cloth shaped vaguely like jagged lightning bolts. Tufts of yellow green feather sat at the top of her knees, and her expression was one that made it clear she was not friendly.

"Shishishi, looks like I've found something nice here!" the creature, that everyone figured was probably a kind of Mamano, snickered with evil joy. "There's just so many young men to break in and play with after all!"

All the people closest to the monstrous bird like Mamano took steps back in fear, just before electricity began arcing across its feathers, making people step back even further.

"It's a Thunderbird, get away from it!" Lenth roared from the stairway into the church as he began running across the courtyard with his sword drawn.

The Thunderbird however, seemed to ignore his yells and using its powerful legs, jumped forward and landed in front of one larger boy who, despite being more rotund, had been seeming to take his training very seriously. "Ooh, you're a bit big, but you look like you will squeal just how I like it! Domt resist and I'll only zap you a bit to start!"

"Get back, I'm warning you!" the boy said as he held up his spear and pointed it at the Thunderbird even as it was clear he was terrified.

The thunder bird grinned as it jumped up and grabbed the spear with its feet claws, making the boy let go and go red in the face, before it snapped the spear and landed back on the ground, electricity arcing across its wings in even greater amounts. "Ooh now you've me all fired up to break you in!" she said as she beat her wings forward, sending dozen lightning bolts across the grass striking many people. Oddly , or perhaps disturbingly, the lighting did not burn skin, but seemed to cause those hit to fall to the ground with odd expressions on their faces that were a mix between pain and pleasure.

"Shit," Kirito mumbled as he realized no one was going to step forward after that display to try to help. And against his better judgment he ran forward as he watched the Thunderbird grab the one boy with a claw. "Hey, let go of him!"

The thunderbird turned and looked at Kirito, making her expression of pure lust and violence be on perfect display as she smiled at him. "Why, do you want to play as well? You look like you might have more vitality I suppose," she said as she dropped the boy to the ground and took a few steps toward Kirito, her claws tearing up the grass.

"No. I'll give you this one chance to leave," Kirito offered as he continued to look at the Thunderbird woman, noting how the arcs of electricity seemed to occur at regular intervals across her wings.

"Shishishi, you have guts boy, let's see if you still have them after I've made you my man!" she screeched as she pulled wings back, then threw them forward.

Recognizing the motion, Kirito threw himself to the side and skidded across the grass, the bolts of lightning sailing over him and striking the grass harmlessly. As he turned his head while trying to get up, he rolled to the side and narrowly dodged the Thunderbird landing beside him and planting a clawed foot where his head had just been. Taking the chance he awkwardly swung his blade at her outstretched leg, the edge biting deep into her calf.

"Ah, dammit!" the thunderbird exclaimed as she leapt backwards and balanced on her one leg while holding the injured one up. Kirito used this chance to get back up onto his feet, and as soon as he was standing, found the Thunderbird glaring at him, an expression of pure unadulterated lust and rage wrapped into one. "You hurt me, so it's only fair I break you in and hurt you so much you end up loving it and cannot help but cling to me!"

Kirito shifted to a combat stance as the Thunderbird leapt into the air and began flapping its wings to stay aloft, but a second later she squealed in pain and turned to the side, where a girl with curly blonde hair was holding up a bow in her hands, though they trembled slightly as she knocked another arrow, its tip a serrated triangle of bronze.

"You bitch!" the thunderbird screamed as electricity coalesced around its body before arcing right toward the girl and sending her flying back onto the ground in clear pain, this lightning more reddish or purple than it had been before, and seemingly far more painful.

The Thunderbird flew over above the girl and began floating down, only for Kirito to throw his sword at her. It didn't cause an injury as she batted it away, but made her turn to him in even more anger.

It also allowed Lenth to jump over the girl, grab the Thunderbirds uninjured leg, and drag her to the ground with a thump. "The boy gave you a chance to leave. You should have taken it!" Lenth hissed as he plunged his short sword into the Thunder birds throat and twisted, creating an audible wet rack, and a fountain of blood to squirt out onto the grass. He did not stop there however as he just as suddenly pulled the blade out and then plunged it into her chest, then rolled off to the side while leaving his weapon in the body, just before the Thunderbirds body released a massive flash of electricity. When it died down, her corpse was steaming and looked partially cooked, while her wings looked like they had been singed off.

The only sound was that of the Thunderbirds steaming body for many seconds, until one person spoke up and tried to approach the first boy who had been targeted, and was still lying on the ground groaning uncomfortably . "Hey man, are you-"

"Do not touch him!" Lenth roared as he got up off the ground. "Do not, touch, anyone, who was struck by its lightning!"

"But they look hurt!" Klein spoke up, as he stepped up beside Kirito and silently asked if he was okay. Kirito simply nodded.

"Only the girl is hurt, the rest are simply painfully sensitive due to the lightning," Lenth explained as he walked over to the girl that had shot the arrow and crouched down beside her. "I need to bring you to Amily in the church to look you over. I'm going to pick you up, and it will be uncomfortable, okay?"

The girl nodded, sounding like she was on the verge of crying. Something she did as soon as Lenth picked her up. "I'm sorry, just bear with it for now. Your life is not immediately in danger," Lenth said as he stood tohis full height. "Do not touch those who were hit by lightning, their bodies will calm down in a few minutes so long as no one touches them."

"What happens if we touch them?" one girl asked.

"Their bodies will climax so hard that they will enter a lust driven frenzy that will begin corrupting and eroding their mind. Not to mention they will likely try to rape anyone near them," Lenth said casually as he began carefully walking toward the church, as to not jostle the girl in his arms who appeared to not only look in pain, but also looked to have burn scars on her arms and legs.

Everyone took immediate steps back from those that had been struck, some noting that the men who had been struck had pitched tents, and the women seemed to be breathing heavily.

"So, that was a Mamano huh?" Klein said before sitting down on the grass and shaking his head. " I get why that goddess didn't want anyone below fourteen now I guess, but jeez, would it have killed her to tell us a bit more?"

"Yeah, this is going to harder than any of us thought I think," Kirito said as he walked over and picked up his sword, finding its edge to be half melted from when the Thunderbird knocked it away. "A lot harder."

* * *

**Kibble dribble: alright the second chapter of this nightmare of a story! Now that initial introductions of their situation, as well as a first example of how dangerous things could the story will start moving well. I think I'll have one more preparatory chapter before the 2k strong group splits up around the Twilight Valley, so I hope you liked the chapter and look forward to the next.**

**Ps, can you find all the character cameos? XD**


	3. ch3 stats and teams

"so, is it just me or are these meals getting, blander?" Klein asked from his seat at the table. His four friends were down the tables side, while across from him sat Kirito.

"well, yeah, but that first meal was a welcome feast, right?" Kirito answered simply as he picked up a piece of bread and tossed it into his mouth.

"Well, I get that, but it still seems too bland, right?"

"No, not really if you look at it in a different light," a girl with short pale blonde hair said as she sat down beside Kirito and placed her own plate down on the table.

"Uh, do you know her?" Klein asked Kirito unsurely.

Kirito nodded as he finished his mouthful of bread. "Yeah, Klein, meet Argo, she was a beta tester in SAO like I was. Argo, this is klein,"

"Pleasure knowing ya," Argo said with a casual smile as she sideways glanced at Kirito. "So, you took to using your in-game name too huh?"

"A lot of people are,"

"True, but some people are not, though most of them are those who chose to look more like they did IRL," Argo stated with a grin.

"Uh, how do you know that?" one of Kleins friends spoke up curiously.

"Argo was an information broker in the Beta," Kirito supplied, causing her to sit straight and push out her modest chest in pride.

"I was the best information broker, and I still plan to be even if this isn't SAO."

"But, this isn't a game, what good is," Klein began to say, till Argo interrupted him.

"We are in a fantasy world that we know nothing about it what we have been told. Knowing street knowledge, rumors, and any other information that will help us all survive in this place."

"I agree, information is going to be very important. Especially if it tells us about those creatures,"

"Right, those Mamano. That Bird thing was, pretty bad," Klein said with a shiver.

"Do you know how that girl is?" kirito asked as he turned to Argo.

Argo shook her head. "She was taken to a room upstairs, but the only door up there is locked tight and banded in metal. I did hear Lenth mutter about her earlier this morning, but not enough to hear."

"I see, I hope she's okay then. It takes a lot of courage to fight against something like that," Klein said seriously, not noticing someone walking up to their table.

"Don't worry, she's fine now," came the new girls voice, drawing all eyes to her and making them realize she was the one they were just speaking of. "May I sit here?" she then asked, looking to the open chair beside Argo.

"Of course, I take it ya got released for good behaviour?" Argo joked as the girl walked around the table and sat down.

"Something like that. It's hard being bad when your whole body hurts," She said as she leaned forward and looked over to Kirito. "I want to thank you."

"What for? You're the one that got hurt, I didn't do anything worthy of thanks from you," Kirito admitted.

"No," the girl said with a shake of her head, causing her blonde locks to float about. "If you didn't challenge that monster, I would not have had the courage to shoot it with that bow I had. I would not have given you, or Lenth that opening. It's because you had courage that I was able to help."

"That's, not really true," Kirito muttered under his breath before sighing. "Alright, it's your choice. Um, I didn't catch you name before."

"Oh, right uh . . I still have not decided whether to use my real name or my game name actually. Which did you go with?"

"well, all of us here seem to be going with our game names as that's what most of us know," Argo stated.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," the blonde girl said before taking a deep breath. "Then, if it pleases you, my name is Lux,"

"That's a good name," Klein said with a smile. "You were pretty good with that bow by the way. I tried archery once I could barely hit the target, let alone a moving one,"

Lux seemed to lower her head a bit at Kleins comment. " well, I'm not that good really, I just-"

"If I could have your attention please?" came the voice of Amily from the back of the hall, drawing many eyes toward her. "as your training over these last few days has been going well, I thought it prudent to now explain to you, as the goddess has allowed me to understand, how some of you may become acquianted with magic."

"can't it wait until after breakfast?" someone called out in a way that made it clear they were not against the idea.

"It can, but this lesson is more a lecture then a show of force, as i can only pass on what information the goddess has granted me. This information shall also pertain to the goddesses marks upon your hands, and their abilities therein," Amily explained, causing the whole hall to go quiet as many were still very curious about the sigils on their hands that had yet to be fully uncovered.

"Then get to it already and tell us what these things do already!" another person called, much more rudely.

"I will. To begin, magic is done by manipulating the mana in ones body. All creatures have mana in their bodies, and it is through the corruption of this mana that people of all races can become Mamano. Because or this, all creatures with sentience, and a proclivity towards it, may use magic. Additionally, a creatures affinity can affect what sorts of magic that it would be able to more easily learn. Humans however, are one of the few creatures who do not naturally have any affinity to a particular element. Due to this many humans can learn magic with study that takes time. That is how humans normally would learn, however the goddess has told me that, with her blessing, you may learn some magic simply if you have the capacity."

"And how pray tell do we know if we have this capacity?" an older man with scholarly features and broad shoulders asked as he stood up and stared at Amily. "You speak much but tell us very little and I begin to wonder if this goddess actually means for us to have any sort of a ability to defend ourselves at all in this prison!"

"Of course, the goddess of balance would not leave you undefended, why do you think we have been having you train to prepare yourselves? We merely needed to make sure you were ready to learn," Amily said with a grin that seemed a bit to smug somehow. "You can learn magic as you grow from , what the goddess tells me, is called a skill window. If you simply hold two fingers on your sigil she tells me it shall bring up a form of status window that only those with the blessing you have will be able to see. Please do so now that you can acquaint yourselves with it."

All at once everyone held their fingers in the back of their hands, and a second layer their status windows popped up, visible only to themselves and each other.

The status window was similar to many from video games that most people had played. It was split into three areas that were labeled as stability, skills/abilities and affinity. The stability section was the only that had entries in it that were a number or scales or bars. The first was marked as physical corruption and was a green bar marked in increments from 1 to 100. The second was marked as mental stability and was a blue scale from -100 to +100, with most peoples scale being in the top 90 to 100. The last was marked as mana and was a simple number bar.

For most people their skills and affinity windows were empty, but not for everyone.

"Uh, you okay Lux?" Argo asked, making the other at the table look away from their own windows.

"No, but I will be," Lux said as she gingerly touched her window and turned it so the others at the table could see it as she sighed. "I'm just a bit, well, seeing it after being told is, revealing."

_Name : Lux._

_Stability-_

_Physical corruption : 21_

_Mental stability : +85_

_Mana : 320/320_

_Skills/abilities – _

_Shock sensitivity : electrical energy is converted into sensitivity and/or positive physical feelings._

_Affinities – _

_Thunder/electricity : +25_

"Uh, your window is, is it supposed to be like that?" Klein asked, unsure what to assume.

"This is what happened to me from getting struck by that Thunderbird like I did," Lux said slowly. " apparently my body has some Mamano energy in it now, so I guess that's the physical corruption, and the shock apparently gave me an affinity for lightning."

"But, you can get rid of it, right?" Kirito asked as calmly as he could.

Lux shook her head. "Amily told me that since our body and mind can be corrupted at different rates due to the blessing that physical corruption will be harder to undo than mental corruption,"

"So, what happens if that one bar gets filled?" argo asked, gesturing to the physical corruption bar.

"Well she said that,-" Lux began to say, till Amily spoke up again, unintentionally cutting her off.

"the goddess has told me that you will have a few statistics focused on your bodies corruption, and your minds stability, these are your most important as she told me that if your body becomes too corrupt it may start becoming a mamanos, and that if your bodies corruption is completed then you will physically become one and be unable to be human again. However, your blessings have split the corruption of mind and body, and you do not need to worry about your mind be coming corrupted at the same rate as your bodies. She also tells me that acts such as massage, meditation and other calming activities can help reduce the danger to your minds turning, but that the corruption of the body must be dealt up with over a long period of time on their own."

"Wait, so if that bar fills, you'll turn into one of those thunderbird things?" Klein asked in a worried tone.

"It's a possibility," Lux said with a nod. "She also said I could turn into other kinds of Mamano if by that point I have different elemental affinities, and depending on what Mamano I have fought."

"But as long as your mental stability is in the positive your mind won't change right?" Argo asked.

"I think so. She said that if it reached -100 then I would lose my humanity and any remnant of my prior morals and beliefs, as well as any care about having had such things," Lux said in way that sounded kind of sad.

"Geez that's, well beyond simple hypnotism," Klein commented with a shiver.

"Um, I don't think so," Lux said, making everyone looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "Amily mentioned that if a person's mind is strong, even when corrupted they can sometimes be considered the same person."

"Did she give ya any examples?" Argo inquired.

"She looked like she wanted to, but cut off our conversation there, saying I needed more rest yesterday night."

"Well that sounds like something that needs to be-" Argo began, before Amily clapping her monsterous clawed hands interrupted her.

"So, I hope that is enough time to see your own windows, as I cannot. The goddess has led me to believe that your understandings of magic can improve in many ways, and you will gain magic, and skills in your skill window as you experience the world. Your affinities should improve in a similar fashion over time it is believed as well."

"So we don't get magic or special skills immediately?" someone called out from somewhere I nthe hall before swearing. "This is bullshit, how are we suppose to fight monsters that can fry people like that bird could if we don't have any overpowered abilities?"

"You saw how!" Lenth spoke up from one wall he was leaning against. "You saw your fellows, and myself fight it and win. Because Mamano have humanoid bodies, they follow much of the same logic. Yes, some have tough hides or scales, yes some can fly and throw lightning, and some can even regenerate at high speeds, but all creatures that live can die in the same ways you can within reason. A creature using lightning may be immune to it, but will often be weak to fire or water. And all live creatures die if you behead them, tear out their innards or pierce their heart!"

"And that is why we wish for you all to be, at the very least, comfortable with the weapons of your choice. We can only keep you here for a handful of days more before resource limitation will require us to ask you to spread out and live your lives, but until then we hope to allow you to gain the skills in combat you will need to learn what else you will need to know," Amily calmly said.

"For that reason as well, those of you who have found a weapon, or weapons, that you believe suit you may pick up non training versions in the courtyard now to get a feel for them and further improve your skills," Lenth spoke up again, stepping away from his position by the wall. "Also, I will be wondering around and looking for those of you who need additional help and offering it where needed, so do your best and do not slack off!"

"And once everyone is done their food, I will be going around and providing some insight to those who are doing their best at how they might fight against those Mamano with greater than average speed or strength," Amily added before smiling. "So please, finish your food and we may all continue with your training."

With their declarations seemingly done with noise and chatter returned to hall and people went back to talking over what was left of their food.

"Well, I guess that's all were getting for now," Klein said with a sigh, seeming a bit upset.

"So it seems," Kirito said as he stood up and looked to Klein. " need more training?"

"Yeah, but were all going to try some training as a group," Klein said as he motioned to his friends.

"Alright, I'll need to find a sparring partner then," Kirito muttered with a sigh.

"I'll spar with ya," Argo said with a smug grin as she tossed her last bit of carrot in her mouth.

"Alright, let's go then. I want a good spot in that courtyard," Kirito said as he began walking away from the table, Argo getting up to follow.

"Um, can I come too?" Lux asked, making Kirito stop and turn to look at her. "I mean, can I please? I need to get better I think with other things than a bow."

"Alright fine, c'mon," kirito said with a begrudging sigh.

As Kirito headed off toward the door Klein could not help but let out a chuckle. "guys got two cuties hanging off him already. I'll need to pick up my pace!"

"Good luck with that, I heard that of everyone here, barely a sixth are girls," one of his friends replied with a laugh.

"Really, well damn, maybe I'll be lucky with a Mamano that won't attempt rape?" he muttered before sighing. "yeah, probably not."

* * *

Training progressed well over the intervening days. With Lux's recovery many people were relieved to see that being attacked by a Mamano was not a final event. That of course did not stop many from taking up the bow or other weapons of ranged attack. With Amily and Lenth actively providing tips and assistance, as well as those who were already comfortable with their weapon providing help, most of everyone was becoming basically proficient enough to be able to protect themselves.

At least in theory.

Most were at least very serious in their training, while fewer and fewer actively complained about their situation out loud, and on the final day of training as the sun began to kiss the horizon Lenth stood by the doors to church and rang a bell, signaling everyone to come inside. Only the doors to the church were not open, and as the groups gathered in front of them he stepped forward.

"Everyone, as you know, this was the day we had called the last day of training, and I am sure many of you are still curious as to what that means. Tomorrow morning all of you will decide to what cities you will travel to too work out of. In addition you will all be getting given some basic armour and your first weapons that will not need to be returned at any point. How well you take care of these will be up to you, as will what you do from that point forward in how you decide to live and work. We will also be providing each of you with some money to start you off."

"We have also decided to warn you of certain dangerous entities that exist in the world," Amily added, making Lenth sigh and nod.

"Yes. We have told you about much of our world and countries, but there are two particular groups we have spoken little of that need to be told to you. These are the Extremists faction of the monster realm, and the Order of the Chief deity itself. The order of the chief deity has, in recent years, been becoming very paranoid and controlling. Using their political clout to forced the nations around their church to join with them in their extremist views that all monsters, even those that are friendly and not a danger to humans, be exterminated. This goes so far as to include races such as the elves, dwarves, and fairy's, who only a small number have become Mamano. If you ever encounter a priest or bishop of the order, you should have as little to do with them as possible.

"As for the extremists of the monster realm, they rose to their current power when a daughter of the overlord, a Lilim named Druella, rose and took her followers, and conquered the once holy order city of Lescatie and turned it into her base of operations. Lescatie was once a city renowned for its numerous heroes of the order, and now it is known for those same heroes being Mamano, and extremists in Druella's faction. If you ever meet or hear of someone who is titles as a hero of the monster realm, especially the one named Wilmarina, do your best to not get involved and get away if you value your humanity. The same goes if you encounter a Lilim," Amily said in a very serious tone. "do not fight, run. Few ever have a chance against the fallen heroes, or against lilims!"

"Why precisely are these heroes so dangerous?" someone from the crowd asked. Kirito recognized their voice as an older man named Heathcliff who had been one of the most vocal complainers to the situation by using his admittedly impressive charisma to make others vocally complain. He was an odd person, as he talked eloquently, but wasn't actually the most proficient at anything else it seemed.

"Thankfully all of the heroes have husbands, this means that if you encounter them there are a few things they may do. They may ignore you or let you leave, they may try to beat you down and forcibly fill you with mana to make you go crazy and find a mamano to make yours, or if you are a woman they may likely try to turn you into a mamano by sexually assaulting you. They are extremely powerful in combat, still having their skills from when they were human, but they also are very well versed in their abilities as monsters, having had decades to learn and master them,"

"Do we have to worry about those monster heroes all the time, or only at certain times or places?" Someone who looked kind of like a businessman might have before ruining his clothes asked intelligently.

"Luckily, those of the extremist faction have been quiet for many years. You should only need to actively worry about them if you near monster realm territories or the city of Lescatie, though there is no reason to be there as the air is so corrupt to humans it can start causing monsterization just by being there," Amily stated as if it was common knowledge.

"Back to tomorrow, inside the church there are boards for each town, or outpost we can send people too. These boards state the climate, political environment, and what kind of average jobs and quests you could take in these places. We would like you all to mark your names on the board of whatever place you would like to go to while inside for dinner tonight. Then in the morning, everything truly shall begin for you! That is all."

"Though not everything, there is still a dinner for everyone inside, so please do enjoy it as you make the choice of where you will be operating out of," Amily added as she kicked the doors open with a clawed foot.

With the information dump seemingly done everyone needed inside with renewed fervor for both dinner, and to decide upon where they would go. Which led to the noise level inside being much greater than normal.

From his seat Kirito watched as people swarmed the boards, mostly around the temperate climate ones, or those that had a wide variety of simple, but less dangerous work. Some people went for the moderate danger boards, but the one board that had a notice stating it was an area of high potential danger was mostly untouched. It looked to have a few names, but had no crowd around it.

"Yo, Kirito,"Klein said as he sat down a cross from Kirito and grabbed a leg of some bird that mostly everyone had silently agreed was close to chicken. "You must have been quick to be finished eating already," he then commented, seeing kirito's mostly eaten plate of food. "Where do you choose to go to?"

"I haven't decided yet," Kirito replied as he cut a piece of meat and tossed it in his mouth.

"What? You mean, you haven't put your name down yet? Why not?" Klein asked in a scandalized tone.

"Dinner first. Besides I didn't feel like wading through everyone," Kirito said with a shrug as Lux and Argo walked over, the two of them having become surprising good friends in days past.

"Oh come on this is important, how can you just," Klein stopped as Argo and Lux sat down. "Girls, you already put your names on a board right? Where are you going to head to?"

"I haven't decided yet," Lux admitted with a smile.

"Yeah, the boards not going anywhere, I'll decide when it's not a hassle to get to," Argo said with a shrug as she began grabbing food.

"How can you, this is serious, it could set the course for our lives in this world!" Klein exclaimed in horror at their nonchalance.

"Well, I did look at them, but I think I might go for the board with fewer people on it," Lux admitted quietly.

"Oh, why that of things Lux?" Argo asked curiously.

"Well, well be working in those areas right? So I figured if I go to the place with the least people, I can help more people, I guess. Is that bad?"

"Naïve, but not bad," Kirito spoke up, drawing eyes.

"How is it naïve?" Lux asked.

"It's dangerous. In a place with less people we would be depended on more and be in more danger. You already know how dangerous Mamano are after all," Kirito said, making Lux look a bit grim or solemn for a few seconds. "Though, going where people need help the most, to help people its, well it's a nice idea at least. Just very dangerous."

"You don't need to be so blunt and grim about it, there's enough of that around this place," Klein muttered with a sigh. "Though I do agree its be dangerous. The board with the least amount of peoples names on it earlier looked to be the town on the edge or the wildlands to the northwest."

"That's that huge forest that borders the monster realm, right?" Lux asked, trying to recall the geography lessons Amily gave them.

"Yeah that's right. It's the huge untamed wilderness that borders the monster realm, as well as a bunch of other areas, including that city of Lescatie on it's far western edge," Argo provided. Before glancing at Klein and grinning. "You decided where you're going then, yeah?"

"Of course! Me and my friends are going to head to the silver river fort. It's on the eastern edge of the country, bordering the Zinpangu peninsula," Klein explained.

"You really want that Katana, huh?" Kirito said with a slight shake of his head.

"Is that so wrong?" Klein said with a smug grin before looking back at Kirito. Seriously though, don't you even have an idea of where you want to go?"

"I'll decide eventually. Though the town up north by the wildwood sounds like a good challenge."

"Well ya are one of the five best fighters out of everyone it seems, so maybe ya need that challenge?"

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up," Kirito said as he stood up and began walking to the boards, noticing they were now mostly clear.

Seeing the same Argo and Lux got up to follow, making their way behind Kirito to the board for the wildwood town of Edgewood.

"So, ya really going to go there?" Argo asked as she looked at the board noting that it had a lot of open job types. Everything from basic guarding to woodcutting and blacksmithing, to very adventurer like jobs including ruins exploration. And everything in between.

Kirot stood there staring at the board for s moment before nodding and picking up the boards piece of chalk, scribbling his name on the board. "Yeah. I'm not sure, but I feel like it's a good idea for me to."

"Well I was already considering it, so I'll join you!" Lux said as she took the chalk from Kirito and began putting her name down.

"Well I guess I'll join ya and keep the two of you outta trouble," Argo said as she took the chalk from Lux when offered it.

"Wait, you both don't need to follow me, you can make your own choices," Kirito said in response to the girls actions.

"We are, it just happens to be where you are going," Argo said with a grin. "sides, me and some other beta info brokers may have a way to set up a information network. the more spread out we are the better."

"fine, I'm not responsible though," Kirito grumbled as he looked back at the board. "Not many people. I guess well learn about each other quickly then."

* * *

Above the church, or more accurately upon its roof, looking through an upper window unnoticed by all, a small Imp Mamano smiled and giggled to herself before flying away into the evening night. "Master will be so happy to know about this!"

* * *

**Kibble dribble: I really wanted to get the third chap of this out, so here it is. I had been planning on listing all the people doing to the area our MCs are, but I couldn't figure out a way to make it sensible so everyone can just see me in the next chapter I guess. Hope everyone is liking how this is going!**


End file.
